Maiden Flesh and Grave Soil
by Scribbling Shroud
Summary: Life continues its course both before and after the grave . . . A collection of Kikyou ficlets originally written for the LiveJournal community "IY no Kakera". Will have various ratings and genres.
1. Throwbacks

**Author's Note: **I claimed Kikyou at the the LiveJournal community "Inuyasha no Kakera." In this community, authors claim a certain character, pairing, or relationship and write fics about it based on 100 themes. I'll be posting my Kikyou ficlets here.

**Title:** Throwbacks

**Theme:** Made to be familiar

**Genre: **General/Introspection

**Pairing:** None

**Rating:** K

**Summary:** Even after fifty years, more things are the same than are different.

**_Throwbacks_ **

Such a vivid mimicry of life this was proving to be. Kikyou could feel the warmth of the ground beneath her hands, the dampness of the dew-covered grass. For a second, she could pretend that those hands were still flesh rather than something more akin to the ground upon which she knelt.

Pretending was something that came easily to Kikyou. Throughout her life she had been forced to project a stoic and businesslike composure, to maintain the dignity of a priestess regardless of her inner feelings. She had become so skilled at this that she even fooled herself occasionally. It was not so strange that she would fall back into the habit upon her revival.

Everything still felt the same as it had when she was alive. The motion of her fingers as she plucked medicinal plants from the earth continued smoothly, without conscious thought. They acted upon memory alone, another familiarity among many.

Even the sight of the village struck her sometimes. Fifty years had passed in this world, and yet this village so easily reminded her of her past. It was almost as though her home had been uprooted and transferred forward in time, to land in this very spot – with one very important difference. No ugly stain of betrayal tainted this land. The similarities were in the building structure, in the quiet respect she received from the villagers, in the cheerful eyes of the children . . .

"Kikyou-sama!"

She looked up at the sound of the voice to see a small girl jogging forward to meet her. The softest of smiles touched Kikyou's lips. Yet another throwback to her life, a very pleasant one.

"Sayo," she greeted quietly, a true note of pleasure in her voice.

The girl halted in front of her, cheeks slightly flushed. Whether this was in response to the jog from the village or happiness from the greeting, Kikyou could not tell. But that was rather beside the point.

"Are you gathering medicines for the villagers again?" Sayo asked brightly.

Kikyou responded with a brief nod. "Yes, I am." She noted the expression on Sayo's face and knew exactly what it signified. "You may help me if you wish."

Sayo's grin widened at the approval and she immediately knelt down in the grass. She looked around for a moment, uncertainty sparking in her eyes. "I'm not sure what I should pick."

Kindly, Kikyou pointed out various small plants that would be helpful against illness, much like she had done so long ago with Kaede. This time and place had also seen fit to send Kikyou such a reminder of her younger sister. The aura of enthusiasm about the healing arts – and indeed just being in her presence – was virtually the same. There was a warmth in it that she had not felt for quite some time . . .

With the plants gathered, Kikyou guided Sayo back to the village, deliberately at a slow pace, just to prolong the moment. That beautiful sense of familiarity was something that she wanted to hold on to as long as possible. All the more so because she knew that it must end at some point.

She could not spend as much time here as she would have liked. Well aware that she no more truly belonged in this world, she had to resolve her business as soon as she could. It was a bitter sacrifice, to be sure, but she had experience with those.

Not all familiarity was a good thing.


	2. What Lived

**Title: **What Lived

**Theme: **In a dream

**Genre: **Romance/Drama

**Pairing: **Inuyasha/Kikyou

**Rating: **T

**Summary:** (50 years prior) Can a person's most fervent desires only be fulfilled in the realm of imagination?

**_What Lived_**

_He looked so different now. Eyes had darkened from amber to brown; hair from silver to black. All other hallmarks of his old heritage – the dog ears, the fangs and claws – had disappeared, erased by a wish upon a centuries-old jewel. But his true self was still clearly visible behind those eyes. He looked different, yes, but remained the same in all the ways that mattered._

_Kikyou paid only the barest attention to the words sealing their union, keeping her focus on her soon-to-be husband. They had each made a great sacrifice for this marriage – he, a life measured in centuries rather than years, and she, the power that gave even youkai pause. But neither of those things mattered anymore. And the words drifted off into silence; the sunlight retreated, replaced by a curtain of darkness . . ._

_A darkness that was most welcome. Their eyes were shielded even from each other, but it eased some of the awkward feelings. Having served its purpose, the wedding garb was cast aside and forgotten. Their bodies twined with each other and burned away the chill that the lack of clothing caused. Hands travelled shyly over flesh, unpractised at such intimacies. And faint breaths carried through the surrounding shadows . . ._

_The shadows lifted to reveal a sunny field just outside the village. Kikyou stood at the edge, watching as two small children – their own – bounded through the grass. One came running over to her, only to trip and fall at her feet. With a kind, indulgent smile, she knelt and placed a hand on the child's shoulder._

_Her hand came away bloody. Further ahead, shrieks of pain and fear pierced the air –_

The world snapped into sharp focus. Kikyou found herself kneeling in the field, but not touching an unharmed child. Rather, her fingers rested upon a wounded man. And not all of the blood that now stained her came from him. Most of it came leaking down her arm, from a grave injury of her own.

Kikyou's face tightened in fury. The blood loss she had suffered must have caused her to daydream, to imagine the future that had been to be fulfilled this day. The future that Inuyasha had so cruelly destroyed when he tore through her with his claws and uttered his intention to attack the village.

With great effort, Kikyou pushed herself to her feet, swaying as she did so. She looked toward the village. More screams came from there, carried with the sounds of splintering wood. Inuyasha's attack.

No more time could be spared here. Inuyasha had to be stopped.

Kikyou closed the distance to the village as quickly as she could manage. She would be of little help if she fell and died before she got there. Her life was soon to run out, but not before she protected her home and sister – and gained her vengeance.

She paused at the very edge, body quivering in its weakness. On the ground before her, she spied a discarded bow beside a quiver of arrows. Kikyou managed a bitter smile at this sight and allowed her knees to give way so that she might grasp the weapon. Her hand still shook as she reached for it.

That life of happiness that she had seen only moments ago . . . It had been merely a dream, a fantasy. Dreams were full of hope and strength and tender feelings. Dreams were what died.

This world of destruction that she was in now . . . It was purely a nightmare. Nightmares were full of despair and weakness and shattered hearts. Nightmares . . .

Kikyou's fingers steadied as she placed them on the bow. Her other hand deftly plucked a single arrow from the quiver. It was all that she would need to send things to their only possible end.

Nightmares were what lived.


End file.
